NEWSROOM

The Board of Trustees has nominated Sister Carolyn Krohn, RSM to serve as Interim Head of School for Mercy High School, San Francisco. Mercy Education System of the Americas (MESA), which is our school’s governing arm of the Sisters of Mercy, has approved this appointment for the 2018-2019 school year.

SAN FRANCISCO: Mercy High School, San Francisco students will participate in the National School Walkout on Wednesday, March 14, by holding a student-led prayer service and standing along 19th Avenue for 17 minutes to honor and remember the 17 victims of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Sister Rosemary Sullivan, RSMNovember 7, 1927 - January 21, 2018A Sister of Mercy for 73 years, teacher, community leader, and administratorSisterRosemary Sullivan, RSM, died in Burlingame, CA, on Sunday, January 21, 2018, at the age of 90. Jean Sullivan was born in San Francisco, the second child of the four children of Russell Sullivan and Winifred (Henderson). Growing up in the Mission District in San Francisco, she attended St. Peter's High School, staffed by the Sisters of Mercy. Upon graduation from high school in 1945, Jean entered the Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame, where she professed vows in 1948, taking the religious name of SisterRosemary.

Mercy High School, San Francisco has hired Anne Farrah as Chief Advancement Officer. Her first day is Feb. 7.​Farrah, a 5th-generation San Franciscan, brings to Mercy more than 25 years of experience in fundraising, donor identification, cultivation and stewardship, community relations, and building partnerships for non-profit organizations. She is the daughter and niece of Mercy alumnae, served six years as a Board Trustee, and is the product of all-women’s education as a graduate of St. Rose Academy.​​

Natasha Alvarado, a senior at Mercy High School, San Francisco, was named state champion of the Voice of Democracy Speech Contest, in Sacramento on Jan. 18 and 19.Voice of Democracy, sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California, featured 13 students from 17 VFW districts across the state. Natasha represented District 10 and competed at the state level last year after winning her first district title.

Natasha was awarded $2,000, a VFW jacket, and plaque and certificate. She also receives an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete for the national title from March 3-7.

We are deeply saddened by the murder of 26 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas over the weekend. Our heartfelt prayers go out to all affected. Atrocities like this are impossible to understand and force us to face the fact that life often makes no sense. But our faith does and as a Catholic school sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, we embrace the Critical Concernof nonviolence and commit to showing everyone the love we share through faith in Jesus Christ.

The decision by the Trump Administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is cruel and unjust. Mercy High School, San Francisco joins with the US Bishops and the Sisters of Mercy in condemning this decision as a “violation of the human dignity of over 800,000 young people, while diminishing us all as a nation.”

This action impacts many in our Mercy High School, San Francisco community and we stand in solidarity with all our immigrant brothers and sisters locally and across the country. Immigration is one of the five Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and now is the time for us to lead with our Catholic values and stand with those who are most vulnerable by advocating for their protection.

As Jesus states in the Gospel of Matthew 25:35, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” We must welcome these children as Jesus himself. The United States represents freedom and safe haven as they escape dangerous and often deadly situations in their home countries. The families who bring them here do so at great cost and out of love for their children. We urge our national leadership, especially Congress, to defend DACA and engage this issue with moral clarity and respect. The people affected by this decision are not “illegal aliens” they are human beings, beloved children of God, and our neighbors.

In a statement yesterday, the Sister of Mercy reinforced their commitment and long-standing history of working closely with partners around the United States to support immigrants. “Our Catholic faith calls us to "welcome the stranger" and ensure a dignified life for all God’s people. We join others in the faith community to stand in solidarity with DACA recipients and add our voice in strong resistance to the immoral ending of this program, as well as the Administration’s threats to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for other immigrant communities,” according to the statement. (Read Full Statement Here)

Mercy students are already engaging in spiritual, intellectual, and moral reflection on this issue. Even more importantly, as the Social Advocacy Based Learning Catholic school of the Bay Area, our students are challenged to translate the fruits of those reflections into action.

As a Catholic school, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy High School, San Francisco stands with our fellow human beings who are immigrants and refugees, no matter their religious identity. Let us not hesitate to value their humanity over their legal status or the demands of the Gospel of Jesus over the presumption of wrongdoing. Every member of our community must know they are safe and protected. Those who are in our larger community of San Francisco and the Bay Area should not be afraid. You have an ally in Mercy SF. We see you. We hear you. We are with you. You are not alone.